Attendance

For most pupils, the best place to be is in school, surrounded by the support of their friends and teachers.

This is important not just for your child's learning, but also for their overall wellbeing, wider development and their mental health.

What if my child is too ill to go to school?

It's usually safe for parents and carers to send their children to school with mild illnesses, like a minor cough, runny nose of sore throat.

However, children should stay at home if they have a high temperature of 38C or above.

The NHS has published guidance to help parents and carers decide whether their child is well enough to attend school, including information on a range of common childhood illnesses and conditions.

When can my child be absent from school?

When you register your child at school, you have a legal duty to ensure your child attends that school regularly.

This means that your child must attend every day that the school is open, unless:

• Your child is too ill to attend that day.
• You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on that day due to exceptional circumstances.
• Your child cannot attend school on that day because it is a day you are taking part in religious observance.
• Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet; or

You are a gypsy/traveller family with no fixed abode, and you are required to travel for work that day meaning your child cannot attend their usual school.  In most circumstances, however, your child is required to attend another school temporarily during such absences.

These are the only circumstances where schools can permit your child to be absent.

Parents who take their child out of school without permission may face paying a fine.

 Holiday requests during term time

Holiday requests during term time will not be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 specify that:

“…a leave of absence shall not be granted unless an application has been made in advance to the Headteacher by a parent (with whom the pupil normally resides); and the Headteacher considers that the leave of absence should be granted due to the exceptional circumstances relating to that application.”

Penalty Notices to Address Poor Attendance at School

A Penalty Notice may be issued as an alternative to the prosecution of a parent/carer for their child’s unauthorised absence from school and will be used by Staffordshire County Council in the following circumstances :-

• Pupils identified by police and education welfare officers engaged on Truancy Patrols and who have incurred unauthorised absences.
• Leave of absence in term time (5 days or 10 sessions or more). Please be aware that The Education (Pupil Registration)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2013, which becomes law on 1st September 2013 state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Headteacher is also required to determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted.
  In such cases the Headteacher/Governing Body have to judge whether there are exceptional circumstances and may request that the Local Authority issue Penalty Notices when the absence is not authorised. Warnings will not be given where it can be shown that parents have been notified that such absences will not be authorised.
• The issue of a Penalty Notice will also be considered where it is judged that a parent is failing to ensure their child’s regular school attendance. This will be considered if the attendance is below 85% and there are 10 or more unauthorised sessions in the previous 6 school weeks, which may include a pupil arriving late after close of registration.

If you believe at any stage that your child’s absence from school may leave you liable to receive a Penalty Notice, it is extremely important that you take action without delay to secure their regular attendance. If you have any questions or require further support to achieve an improvement, please contact the school or the education welfare officer.

PENALTY NOTICE RELATING TO EXCLUSIONS

If a child is excluded from school, Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a duty on parents/carers to ensure that their child is not in a public place without justifiable cause during school hours. This duty applies to the first five days of each exclusion. Failure to do so will render the parent/carer liable to a Penalty Notice. (Alternative education provision will be made available from the sixth day of any exclusion.)

AMOUNT PAYABLE FOR A PENALTY NOTICE

The amount payable for a Penalty Notice issued in any of the above circumstances is £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the Notice, rising to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days. If the Penalty Notice is not paid, the recipient will be prosecuted in the Magistrates Court for the offence for which the Notice was originally issued.
Please be aware that each parent is liable to receive a Penalty Notice foreach child who incurs unauthorised absences, for example, if there are two parents and one child, each parent will receive one Penalty Notice.
If there are two parents, and two children incur unauthorised absences, each parent will receive two Penalty Notices, which in this case would amount to £120 each if paid within 28 days.

Absences cannot be authorised retrospectively​.